The Restriction of Polynomial Modules for the Virasoro Algebra to sl2(C)

Abstract

The Lie algebra [Formula: see text] may be regarded in a natural way as a subalgebra of the infinite-dimensional Virasoro Lie algebra, so it is natural to consider connections between the representation theory of the two algebras. In this paper, we explore the restriction to [Formula: see text] of certain induced modules for the Virasoro algebra. Specifically, we consider Virasoro modules induced from so-called polynomial subalgebras, and we show that the restriction of these modules results in twisted versions of familiar modules such as Verma modules and Whittaker modules.